“Suntree
Triples” - Rules, Safety, Strategy
Dated Aug 1, 2021
General: There are no official rules for Tennis Triples. It was likely thought up by Club Pros to provide a fun cardio tennis alternative for large groups. If you check on-line you will find different versions. Tennis Triples is meant to be played at a fast pace as a cardio workout for all levels of tennis players. Other than playing with 3 players on both sides of the net, the sky is the limit for creating various rules of play. And, because the players normally rotate after each point, you can have teams with more than 3 players; the side-lined players rotate back into the game, in order, after each succeeding point. Four players on each team is very competitive. Five players on a team results in each player sitting out for two of every five points played. It is OK to have 3 or 4 players on one side and 4 or 5 players on the other side. If you are playing with 4 or 5 players, the side-lined player rotating back in normally moves to the deuce side position and will be the Server if that team won the previous point.
1. Only Low Compression tennis balls shall be used. Claudia has a basket of Low Compression balls; each ball has a green circle on it. They may be checked out on request. Please help by collecting all stray balls before calling it quits!
2. Aiming your shot above the knees of a player anywhere in front of the service line is not allowed! Don’t do it! Hit around the Net Player, hit at their feet, but do not aim right at them! Anytime a player at the net is hit with the ball above the knees in a manner that could cause injury, the opposing team loses that point, a Let must be called, and this rule must be reinforced!
Rules of Play for Suntree ‘Helter Skelter’
Triples (the version we normally play):
Each point is played by three players on each side of the court. Each team has two base line players and one ‘Net Player’. The base line players are identified as the ‘Deuce Side Player’ and the ‘Add Side Player’. The Deuce Side Player is automatically the “Server” if his/her side won the previous point.
The “Net Player” must always play in front of the service line. If the Net Player hits a ball behind the service line then the opposing team gets the point.
The two base-line players are only allowed to move in front of the service line to retrieve a short ball that has already bounced once and then they must move behind the service line before playing another shot. The opposing team wins the point anytime a base-line player volleys a ball in front of the service line or hits two balls in front of the service line without resetting behind the service line.
The Server cannot serve until the serving team’s Net Player has both feet forward of the service line and the Add Side Player has both feet behind the service line. The Server must serve underhand from the deuce side and must have both feet behind the base line at ball impact. Unlike regular tennis, a serve that hits the top of the net is a good serve if it goes into the opposing team’s court.
A
Let can be called anytime a rules violation has occurred; the point is awarded to the opposing team . That said, what makes Triples so much fun is the pace of the game. Excessive Let calls breaks the rhythm and detracts from the fun of the game.
‘Helter Skelter’ Scoring
Play the best of 3 games. Every point played is scored . Both teams rotate after every point. A game is won by the first team reaching 11. Switch sides after each game. If the courts are randomly assigned, then the team assigned the south side serves first. Otherwise, spin a racket for choice of first serve or side.
A team that breaches a rule loses the point as well as the serve.
Either one person on each side or one person overall should be designated ‘Scorekeeper’. The Scorekeeper(s) must call the score out after each point is played. If the Scorekeeper loses track of the score, he/she should stop play and sort out the score before continuing play.
Helter Skelter 3 Players vs 4 Players : The team with 4 players has the advantage because the side-lined player coming back into play has a position/time advantage, especially if coming back into play as the Server. Consider having all Servers delay a few seconds until
the opposing team has had a reasonable amount of time to get into position.
Strategy
Start each game with 3=4 balls per player. During play, do not attempt to pick up balls while the other side has the serve as they do not need to wait for you to be ready. Stray balls on the court should be “flicked” out of the way whenever possible. Call a Let only if a ball on the court is a safety issue. The Server can always take as much time as needed to allow his/her teammates to replenish their ball supply. Unless otherwise agreed upon, the Server need not wait for his/her opponents to replenish their ball supply!
The Server should lob over an aggressive net player.
The Net Player should play aggressively and try to make winners. A ‘failed poach’ can likely be covered by one of the back players. During the serve by the opposing team, the Net Player should aggressively attempt to pick off the serve and hit a winning angle or drop shot. The Net Player should never target the opposing Net Player above the knees.
When rotating to the Add Side Position, never turn your back to the opposing team’s Server! This is one of the most common mistakes. It happens when the opposing team has the serve and the Server hits the ball to the Add Side Player who has turned his/her back to the Server while moving from the net position to the add side position. Said another way - at the completion of a point, the Net Player should ‘backpedal” to the add side position if the opposing team has the serve. Remember, the Server has no obligation to make sure the opposing team is ready for the serve unless it is the first point of the game or after a Let has been called. A crafty Server looks for the easy point by serving hard and deep down the line to the Add Side Player who is not yet in position to cover that shot.
When playing the back positions defensively, the lob is the most effective shot to keep the ball away from an aggressive net player. Use it frequently!
An over-aggressive net player often makes more errors than winners. The Net Player should always remember that, unlike Doubles, there are two players backing you up. The Net Player needs to hit winners or at least cause the opposing team to hit defensively; anything less allows the opposing team to hit the next winner or an offensive shot. The winning team usually wins by executing deep lobs and offensive shots to set up the
Net Player, by making the least unforced errors, and (always!) making the opposing team attempt to hit the ball one more time.
When it is your turn to serve, BE READY! Have a ball already in your hand so you do not waist time getting it out of your pocket. Your teammates need to do their part too! The Net Player needs to be in front of the service line and the Add Side Player needs to be behind the service line before the serve is commenced . Moving very quickly to your next position allows the Server to catch the opposing team still in their rotation and unprepared to return the serve! This cycle can repeat itself as the opposing team attempts to get to their proper positions.
Be ready to take advantage of the ‘no volleys allowed by the base players in front of the service line’ rule whenever the opportunity presents itself. The only option for a base player caught in front of the service line is to get out of the way and hope a teammate can come to the rescue while he/she gets back behind the service line!
“King of the Hill”
Courts are labeled top to bottom. Players are randomly assigned a court as well as the north or south side. The
winners on the top court stay on that court. The losers on the bottom court stay on that court. Middle courts: Winners move up and losers move down. After players have moved, then the players on each court are randomly assigned to the north and south sides. The process repeats itself after all teams have played best of 3 games.
“Monkey
in the Middle”
We called this “Turkey in the Middle” a couple years ago during the Thanksgiving Holidays! There are slight differences to the rules and scoring. Rules for Suntree will be published before we play this version. The two major differences are:
* Only the serving side can score a point.
* If the team that started the point wins the point then they receive 1 point and serve again (but no rotations on either side). However, if the team that started the point loses the point, then the other team wins the serve (but not the point) and rotates one position.
Have fun and be safe! Rob and Ann